Brake assembly for robotic surgery system

ABSTRACT

A robotic surgery cart has a pair of rear wheel assemblies and a pair of front wheel assemblies. A brake assembly for the robotic surgery cart includes a gearbox interposed between and connected to the pair of rear wheel assemblies by rotatable shafts. Elongate actuators extend between and interconnect the rotatable shafts and brake mechanisms for the front wheel assemblies. A pedal lever is rotatably coupled to the gearbox and can rotate clockwise by pressing one portion of the pedal lever and can rotate counterclockwise by pressing another portion of the pedal lever. Rotation of the pedal lever causes the gearbox to rotate the rotatable shafts to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of the elongate actuators to actuate the brake mechanisms of the front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure generally relates to robotic surgical systems,and more particularly to a brake assembly for a robotic surgical system.

Description of the Related Art

Robotic surgery systems generally include an operator interface thatreceives operator input from a surgeon and causes correspondingmovements of surgical tools within a body cavity of a patient to performa surgical procedure. The operator interface can be on a workstationthat the surgeon interfaces with to perform a surgical procedure usingthe surgical tools. The surgical tools can be on a cart separate fromthe workstation. The cart can be mobile, allowing hospital staff to movethe cart into an operating room prior to the surgical procedure, and toremove it from the operating room once the surgical procedure has beencompleted.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a brake assembly isprovided on a cart of a robotic surgery system. The brake system isactuatable by a user to lock and unlock all the wheels of the cartsubstantially simultaneously.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a brake assemblyfor a robotic surgery cart is provided. The brake assembly comprises apair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism actuatableto selectively brake a wheel of each of the rear wheel assemblies, and apair of front wheel assemblies, each having a disc brake assemblyactuatable to selectively brake a rotor operatively coupled to a wheelof each of the front wheel assemblies. The brake assembly also comprisesa gearbox interposed between the pair of rear wheel assemblies, a pairof rotatable shafts extending along a first axis and interconnecting thegearbox with the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and a pair of elongateactuators interconnecting the pair of rotatable shafts and the discbrake assemblies of the front wheel assemblies. The brake assembly alsocomprises a pedal lever rotatably coupled to the gearbox and configuredto rotate about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to thefirst axis, the pedal lever configured to rotate clockwise by pressingon one portion of the pedal lever and to rotate counterclockwise bypressing on another portion of the pedal lever. Rotation of the pedallever about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair ofrotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lock the pair ofrear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes atranslation of the pair of elongate actuators to actuate the disc brakeassemblies to substantially lock the rotors of the front wheelassemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assembliesbrake substantially simultaneously.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a brake assemblyfor a robotic surgery cart is provided. The brake assembly comprises apair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism actuatableto selectively brake a wheel of the rear wheel assembly, at least onefront wheel assembly, a rotor operatively coupled to a wheel of the atleast one front wheel assembly, a disc brake assembly actuatable toselectively brake the rotor, and a gearbox interposed between the pairof rear wheels. The brake assembly also comprises a pair of rotatableshafts extending along a first axis and interconnecting the gearbox withthe pair of rear wheels, and at least one elongate actuatorinterconnecting at least one of the pair of rotatable shafts and thedisc brake assembly. The brake assembly also comprises a pedal leverrotatably coupled to the gearbox, the pedal lever configured to rotatein a first direction by pressing on one portion of the pedal lever andto rotate in a second direction by pressing on another portion of thepedal lever. Rotation of the pedal lever causes the gearbox to rotatethe pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lockthe pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneouslycauses a translation of the at least one elongate actuator to actuatethe disc brake assembly to substantially lock the rotor, such that therear wheel assemblies and the at least one front wheel assembly brakesubstantially simultaneously.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a robotic surgery system.

FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of a baseplate assembly of a cart ofthe robotic surgery system of FIG. 1 along plane 2-2.

FIG. 2B is a bottom view of the baseplate assembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of another baseplate assembly for thecart of the robotic surgery system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the baseplate assembly in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the baseplate assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the baseplate assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7A is a perspective rear view of the brake assembly of thebaseplate assembly of FIG. 3 with the baseplate removed.

FIG. 7B is a partial rear view of the brake assembly of the baseplateassembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective bottom view of the brake assemblyattached to the baseplate of the baseplate assembly.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a front wheel of the cart, showing aportion of the brake assembly of the base plate assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview of Robotic Surgery System

FIG. 1 illustrates a robotic surgery system 100. The robotic surgerysystem 100 includes a workstation 102 and an instrument station or apatient cart 104. The patient cart 104 includes at least one toolmountable on a moveable instrument mount, central unit or drive unit 106that houses an instrument drive (not shown) for manipulating the tool.The tool may include an insertion device 108 that can support at leastone surgical instrument (hereinafter to be interchangeably used with an“instrument” or “surgical tool”) and a camera (not shown) that images asurgical site. The workstation 102 may also include a tool such as aninstrument clutch (that may optionally be implemented by a foot pedaldescribed below). The insertion device 108 can optionally support two ormore instruments (not shown). The camera may optionally include aprimary camera and at least one secondary camera. The primary camera andthe secondary camera may provide different viewing angles, performdifferent functions and/or produce different images. At least one of theprimary camera and the secondary camera may optionally be atwo-dimensional (2D) or a three-dimensional (3D) camera. FIG. 1 ismerely an example of a robotic surgery system, and certain elements maybe removed, other elements added, two or more elements combined, or oneelement can be separated into multiple elements depending on thespecification and requirements of the robotic surgery system.

The workstation 102 includes an input device for use by a user (forexample, a surgeon; hereinafter to be interchangeably used with an“operator”) for controlling the instrument via the instrument drive toperform surgical operations on a patient. The input device mayoptionally be implemented using a haptic interface device available fromForce Dimension, of Switzerland, for example. The input deviceoptionally includes a right input device 132 and a left input device 112for controlling respective right and left instruments (not shown). Theright input device 132 includes a right hand controller 122 (hereinafterto be interchangeably used with a “hand grip” or “handpiece”) and theleft input device 112 includes a left hand controller 124. The right andleft hand controllers 122 and 124 may optionally be mechanically orelectrically coupled to the respective input devices 132 and 112.Alternatively, the right and left hand controllers 122 and 124 may bewirelessly coupled to the respective input devices 132 and 112 or may bewireless coupled directly to the workstation 102. In some cases, whenthere are two instruments at the instrument station 104, the right andleft hand controllers 122 and 124 may respectively control the twoinstruments. In some cases, when there are more than two instruments,the right and left hand controllers 122 and 124 may be used to selecttwo of the multiple instruments that an operator wishes to use. In somecases, when there is only one instrument, one of the right and left handcontrollers 122 and 124 may be used to select the single instrument.

The input devices 132 and 112 may generate input signals representingpositions of the hand controllers 122 and 124 within an input deviceworkspace (not shown). In some cases where the input devices 132 and 112are coupled directly and wirelessly to the workstation, they wouldinclude the necessary sensors to allow wireless control such as anaccelerometer, a gyroscope and/or magnetometer. In other cases, awireless connection of the input devices 132 and 112 to the workstation102 may be accomplished by the use of camera systems alone or incombination with the described sensors. The afore described sensors forwireless functionality may also be placed in each handpiece to be usedin conjunction with the input devices 132 and 112 to independentlyverify the input device data. The workstation 102 also includes aworkstation processor circuit 114, which is in communication with theinput devices 132 and 112 for receiving the input signals.

The workstation 102 also includes a display 120 in communication withthe workstation processor circuit 114 for displaying real time imagesand/or other graphical depictions of a surgical site produced by thecamera associated with the instrument. The workstation 102 mayoptionally include right and left graphical depictions (not shown)displayed on the display 120 respectively for the right and left sideinstruments (not shown). The graphical depictions may optionally bedisplayed at a peripheral region of the display 120 to prevent obscuringa live view of the surgical workspace also displayed on the display. Thedisplay 120 may further be operable to provide other visual feedbackand/or instructions to the user. A second auxiliary display 123 may beutilized to display auxiliary surgical information to the user(surgeon), displaying, for example, patient medical charts andpre-operation images. In some cases, the auxiliary display 123 may be atouch display and may also be configured to display graphicsrepresenting additional inputs for controlling the workstation 102and/or the patient cart 104. The workstation 102 further includes afootswitch or foot pedal 126, which is actuatable by the user to provideinput signals to the workstation processor circuit 114. In one case, thesignal provided to the workstation processor circuit 114 may inhibitmovement of the instrument while the footswitch 126 is depressed.

The patient cart 104 includes an instrument processor circuit 118 forcontrolling the central unit 106, insertion device 108, one or moreinstruments and/or one or more cameras. In such case, the instrumentprocessor circuit 118 is in communication with the workstation processorcircuit 114 via an interface cable 116 for transmitting signals betweenthe workstation processor circuit 114 and the instrument processorcircuit 118. In some cases, communication between the workstationprocessor circuit 114 and the processor circuit 118 may be wireless orvia a computer network, and the workstation 102 may even be locatedremotely from the instrument station 104. Input signals are generated bythe right and left input devices 132 and 112 in response to movement ofthe hand controllers 122 and 124 by the user within the input deviceworkspace and the instrument is spatially positioned in a surgicalworkspace in response to the input signals.

Additional details of the robotic surgery system 100 are described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/174,646 filed on Oct. 30, 2018, theentirety of which is hereby incorporated by references and should beconsidered a part of this specification.

Braking Assembly

FIGS. 2A-9 illustrate a braking assembly 200, 200′ for a mobile cart,such as an instrument station or the patient cart 104 of the roboticsurgical system 100.

FIGS. 2A-2B show a braking assembly 200 of the patient cart 104, that atleast partially defines the bottom portion of the patient cart 104 takenalong line 2-2 in FIG. 1. The braking assembly 200 can have a baseplate210, a pair of rear wheel assemblies 220 (left rear wheel assembly 220Aand right rear wheel assembly 220B), a pair or front wheel assemblies230 (left front wheel assembly 230A and right front wheel assembly230B), a gearbox assembly 250 and a pedal assembly 260. The rear wheelassemblies 220, front wheel assemblies 230 and gearbox assembly 250 canbe attached to the baseplate 210 (e.g. to an underside of the base plate210). Optionally, the pair of rear wheel assemblies 220 are casters220A, 220B (not shown). Optionally, the pair of front wheel assemblies230 are casters 230A, 230B. The pedal assembly 260 can have adepressible pedal 262 movably coupled to the gearbox assembly 250, andactuatable by an operator (e.g., by pressing on the pedal with theirfoot) to actuate the gearbox assembly 250 to lock and unlock the pair ofrear and front wheel assemblies 220, 230 substantially simultaneously,as further discussed below. In one implementation, the pedal assembly260 engages the gearbox assembly 250 in a push-push manner, such thatpushing the pedal 262 down causes the gearbox assembly 250 to lock thepair of rear and front wheel assemblies 220, 230 (e.g., inhibit orprevent them from rotating), and pushing the pedal 262 down a secondtime causes the gearbox assembly 250 to unlock the pair of rear andfront wheel assemblies 220, 230 (e.g., allowing them to rotate).

FIGS. 3-9 show a braking assembly 200′ similar to the braking assembly200 described above in connection with FIG. 2. Thus, references numeralsused to designate the various components of the braking assembly 200′are identical to those used for identifying the corresponding componentsof the braking assembly 200 in FIG. 2, except that a “′” is added to thenumerical identifier. Therefore, the structure and description for thevarious components of the braking assembly 200 in FIG. 2 is understoodto also apply to the corresponding components of the braking assembly200′ in FIGS. 3-9, except as described below.

The braking assembly 200′ differs from the braking assembly 200 in thatat least a portion of the gearbox assembly 250′ is mounted at least inpart to a top surface 211A′ of the baseplate 210′. Additionally, thepair of front wheel assemblies 230′ are not casters. Further, the pedalassembly 260′ is rotatably coupled to the gearbox 250′ (See FIG. 7B).The pedal assembly 260′ includes a first pedal 262′ and a second pedal264′, where actuation of one of the pedals 262′, 264′ locks the pair offront and rear wheel assemblies 220′, 230′ substantially simultaneouslyto lock the braking assembly 200′ and patient cart 104 in place, andactuation of the other of the pedals 262′, 264′ unlocks the pair offront and rear wheel assemblies 220′, 230′, allowing the brakingassembly 200′ and patient cart 104 to be moved. In one implementation,the rear wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′ can be casters, such as castersfrom Tente International GmbH.

With reference to FIGS. 4-6, the gearbox assembly 250′ can optionallyhave a front mounting plate 252′, a top mounting plate 254′, where atleast a portion of the front and top mounting plates 252′, 254′ attachto the baseplate 210′, and a gearbox 256′. The gearbox 256′ can be aright angle gearbox with an input shaft (not shown) that couples to thepedal assembly 260′ and two output shafts (not shown) that extendgenerally perpendicular to the input shaft. The gearbox 256′ can haveone or more gears (e.g., bevel gears) that translate rotation of inputshaft about an axis Y (via rotation of the pedal assembly 260′) intorotation of the output shafts (not shown) of the gearbox 256′ about anaxis X that is perpendicular to the axis Y. Optionally, the two outputshafts rotate in the same direction. The top mounting plate 254′ canattach to a top surface 211A′ of the base plate 210′. The gearbox 256′can optionally mount to one or both of a bottom surface 211B′ of thebase plate 210′ and the top mounting plate 254′. The rear wheelassemblies 220A′, 220B′ can attach to the bottom surface 211B′ of thebase plate 210′ via mounting plates 222A′, 222B′. The front wheelassemblies 230A′, 230B′ can attach to the bottom surface 211B′ of thebase plate 210′ via brackets 232A′, 233A′, 232B′, 233B′.

FIG. 6 shows a bottom view of the braking assembly 200′, FIG. 7 showsthe components of the braking assembly 200′ with the baseplate 210′removed, and FIG. 8 shows a partially assembled view of the brakingassembly 200′. With reference to FIGS. 6-8, the output shafts of thegearbox 256′ engage with rotary detents 288A′, 288B′ on both sides ofthe gearbox 256′, which selectively engage spring plungers 289A′, 289B′as they rotate, as discussed further below. The rotary detents 288A′,288B′ couple with shaft couplings 286A′, 286B′, which in turn couplewith shaft portions 285A′, 285B′ that extend to shaft ends 280A′, 280B′.The shaft ends 280A′, 280B′ can optionally extend into housings 224A′,224B′ of the rear wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′. The shaft ends 280A′,280B′ optionally have a portion (e.g., keyed portion) that engages abreak mechanism in the rear wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′. Rotation ofthe pedal assembly 260′ in one direction causes the shaft portions285A′, 285B′, and therefore the shaft ends 280A′, 280B′ to rotate in afirst direction (via the gearbox 256), causing the brake mechanism inthe front wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′ to engage at least a portion ofthe wheels 221A′, 221B′ of the front wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′. Inanother implementation, the rotary detents 288A′, 288B′ and springplungers 289A′, 289B′ are excluded.

With continued reference to FIGS. 6-8, the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′can extend through brackets 283A′, 283B′ that are attached to the bottomsurface 211B′ of the baseplate 210′. Optionally, the brackets 283A′,283B′ can each include a bushing through which the shaft portions 285A′,285B′ extend. The brackets 283A′, 283B′ can support the shaft portions285A′, 285B′ on the braking assembly 200′. A pair of levers 284A′, 284B′can be mounted (e.g., via press-fit connection, rigidly mounted) on theshaft portions 285A′, 285B′, respectively. The levers 284A′, 284B′rotate with the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′.

One or more elongate actuators operatively interconnect the pair offront wheel assemblies 220′ and the pair of front wheel assemblies 230′.In FIGS. 6-8, a pair of elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′ operativelyinterconnect the pair of front wheel assemblies and the pair of rearwheel assemblies 230′. The pair of actuators 270A′, 270B′ can havelinkages 272A′, 272B′ at an end thereof (e.g., removably attached to anend thereof) that couples to the levers 284A′, 284B′. The pair ofactuators 270A′, 270B′ can have linkage 274A′, 274B′ at an opposite endthereof (e.g., removably attached to the opposite end thereof) thatcouples to a disk brake assembly 237A′, 237B′ of the front wheelassemblies 230A′, 230B′ as further described below.

In one implementation, the pair of actuators 270A′, 270B′ are a pair ofgas springs. In one implementation, the elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′are gas springs for medical applications provided by Industrial GasSprings, Inc. The elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′ optionally includeshaft portions 271A′, 271B′ that attach to the levers 284A′, 284B′ vialinkages 272A′, 272B′, cylinder portions 274A′, 274B′ attached to theshaft portions 272A′, 272B′, and piston rod portions 276A′, 276B′ thattravel within the cylinder portions 278A′, 278B′ and that couple to thefront wheel assemblies 230A′, 230B′ via the linkages 274A′, 274B′. Inother implementations, the one or more actuators are a pair of rods(e.g., substantially rigid rods) that extend (continuously) from thelinkages 272A′, 272B′ to the linkages 274A′, 274B′. In otherimplementations, the one or more actuators are a pair of compressionsprings that extend from the linkages 272A′, 272B′ to the linkages274A′, 274B′. In other implementations, the one or more actuators are apair of extension springs that extend from the linkages 272A′, 272B′ tothe linkages 274A′, 274B′.

The braking assembly 200′ can include a one or more support railsattached to the baseplate 210′. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A, the brakingassembly 200′ can optionally have one or more (e.g., a pair of)longitudinal rails 216A′, 216B′ attached to the bottom surface 211B′ ofthe baseplate 210′. One or more (e.g., a pair of) transverse rails 212′,214′ can attach to one or both of the longitudinal rail(s) 216A′, 216B′and the bottom surface 211B′ of the baseplate 210′. The transverserail(s) 212′, 214′ optionally have slots 212A′, 212B′, 214A′, 214B′through which at least a portion of the elongate actuator(s) 270A′,270B′ extend. The slots 212A′, 212B′, 214A′, 214B′ can aid in guidingthe movement of the elongate actuator(s) 270A′, 270B′ as furtherdiscussed below.

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of the left front wheel assembly 230A′.The right front wheel assembly 230B′ can have the same components andarrangements shown in FIG. 9 and described below, except that “B” wouldreplace “A” in the numerical identifiers.

The front wheel assembly 230A′, 230B′ includes a wheel 231A′, 231B′mounted between the outer bracket 232A′, 232A′ and inner bracket 233A′,233B′ with an axle 234A′, 234B′ that extends through the wheel 231A′,231B′. The axle 234A′, 234B′ can have a recess or slot that couples witha key member 235A′, 235B′. The key member 235A′, 235B′ can engage a keyslot 241A′, 241B′ in a central opening 240A′, 240B′ of the wheel 231A′,231B′ so that the wheel 231A′, 231B′ and axle 234A′, 234B′ rotate as oneunit (e.g., the wheel 231A′, 231B′ does not rotate independently of theaxle 234A′, 234B′). An end of the axle 234A′, 234B′ can fixedly couplewith a rotor 236A′, 236B′ rotate as one unit (e.g., the axle 234A′,234B′ does not rotate independently of the rotor 236A′, 236B′).

A disc brake assembly 237A′, 237B′ can be disposed about at least aportion of the rotor 236A′, 236B′ and selectively actuatable to engagethe rotor 236A′, 236B′ to brake (e.g., inhibit or prevent the rotationof) the rotor 236A′, 236B′. In one implementation, the disc brakeassembly 237A′, 237B′ can apply a force (e.g., a clamp force) ofapproximately up to about 900 lbf on the rotor 236A′, 236B′. The diskbrake assembly 237A′, 237B′ can have a lever 238A′, 238B′ that cancouple with the linkage 274A′, 274B′ of the elongate actuator 270A′,270B′. The disc brake assembly 237A′, 237B′ can optionally couple to thebracket 233A′, 233B′ (e.g., via a spacer 239A′, 239B′ and fasteners246A′, 246B′ and 247A′, 247B′, which can be screws).

Optionally, a locking ring 242A′, 242B′ can be coupled to an end of theaxle 234A′, 234B′ to inhibit (e.g., prevent) the axle 234A′, 234B′ fromsliding out of the wheel 231A′, 231B′. Optionally, a set screw 248A′,248B′ can be inserted in an opening 249A′, 249B′ of the wheel 231A′,231B′ to aid in retaining the axle 234A′, 234B′ fixedly coupled to thewheel 231A′, 231B′. Optionally, bearings 243A′, 243B′ and 244A′, 244B′can be coupled to the axle 234A′, 234B′ and disposed in the brackets232A′, 232B′ and 233A′, 233B′ to facilitate rotation of the axle 234A′,234B′ within the brackets 232A′, 232B′ and 233A′, 233B′. In oneimplementation, the front wheels 231A′, 231B′ are similar to onessupplied by TREW Industrial Wheels, Inc. In one implementation, the discbrake assemblies 237A′, 237B′ can be mechanical brakes, such as model1100 m provided by Hayes Performance Systems.

In operation, the pedal assembly 260′ can rotate about axis Y by atleast a degrees. In one implementation, a is between 0 degrees and 90degrees, such as about 60 degrees. Optionally, rotation of the pedalassembly 260′ in one direction (e.g., a counterclockwise direction bypressing on pedal 262′) causes the wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′, 230A′,230B′ to lock to inhibit (e.g., prevent) motion of the baseplate 210′,and rotation of the pedal assembly 260′ in an opposite direction (e.g.,a clockwise direction by pressing on pedal 264′) causes the wheelassemblies 220A′, 220B′, 230A′, 230B′ to unlock and allow motion of thebaseplate 210′. In another implementation, rotation of the pedalassembly 260′ away from a neutral or level position (e.g., rotationclockwise or counterclockwise away from a neutral position) where thepedals 262′, 264′ are generally at the same orientation relative to thebaseplate 210′ causes the wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′, 230A′, 230B′ tolock to inhibit (e.g., prevent) motion of the baseplate 210′, androtation of the pedal assembly 260′ to the neutral or level positioncauses the wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′, 230A′, 230B′ to unlock andallow motion of the baseplate 210′.

In operation, when the pedal assembly 260′ is rotated to lock the rearand front pair of wheel assemblies 220′, 230′, the gearbox 256′translates rotation of the pedal assembly 260′ into rotation (e.g.,simultaneous rotation) of the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′ and shaft ends280A′, 280B′. Rotation of the shaft ends 280A′, 280B′ cause the brakemechanisms in the rear wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′ to engage toinhibit (e.g., prevent) rotation of the rear wheel assemblies 220A′,220B′. Rotation of the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′ cause rotation (e.g.,simultaneous rotation) of the levers 284A′, 284B′, which push (via thelinkages 272A′, 272B′) the elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′ axiallytoward a front end F of the baseplate 210′. This results in the elongateactuators 270A′, 270B′ axially moving toward the front end F of thebaseplate 210′ so that the linkages 274A′, 274B′ push the levers 238A′,238B′ causing the disc brake assemblies 237A′, 237B′ to engage therotors 235A′, 235B′ to inhibit (e.g., prevent) rotation of the rotors235A′, 235B′. As the front wheels 231A′, 231B′, axles 234A′, 234B′ androtors 235A′, 235B′ so that they rotate as one (e.g., they do not rotateindependently of each other), the braking of the rotors 235A′, 235B′with the disc brake assemblies 237A′, 237B′ also causes (e.g.,simultaneously causes) the wheels 231A′, 231B′ to lock. Advantageously,the rear wheels 220A′, 220B′ and the front wheels 230A′, 230B′ locksubstantially simultaneously upon rotation of the pedal assembly 260′ tothe locking orientation. Therefore, all the wheel assemblies 220A′,220B′, 230A′, 230B′ of the braking assembly 200′ (and therefor of amobile cart, such as the patient cart 104) can be locked with a singleactuation of the pedal assembly 260′, making the locking and unlockingof the mobile cart (e.g., patient cart 104) simple and efficient.

As the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′ rotate to cause the wheel assemblies220A′, 220B′, 230A′, 230B′ to lock, the rotary detents 288A′, 288B′ arerotated so that they engage the spring plungers 289A′, 289B′. The springplungers 289A′, 289B′ can resiliently hold the position of the rotarydetents 288A′, 288B′ by exerting a force on the rotary detents 288A′,288B′, and therefore the shaft portions 285A′, 285B′ to counteract anycounteracting force (e.g. due to rotational inertia in the gearbox 256′)that may cause the inadvertent backdriving of the gearbox 256′ and orpedal assembly 260′ and cause the wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′, 230A′,230B′ from inadvertently unlocking once the operator has actuated thepedal assembly 260′ to lock them.

In another implementation, the pair of elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′can instead be replaced by a single elongate actuation. Additionally,the axles 234A′, 234B′ of the front wheel assemblies 230A′, 230B′ caninstead be replaced by a single axle that extends through and is coupled(e.g., via a key and key slot arrangement as shown in FIG. 9) to bothwheels 231A′, 231B′. The two disc brake assemblies 237A′, 237B′ caninstead be replaced by a single disc break assembly mounted to thebottom surface 211B′ of the baseplate 210′. The two rotors 236A′, 236B′can instead by replaced by a single rotor that is fixedly coupled to theaxle (e.g., via a key and key-slot arrangement). The single elongateactuator would extend between and couple to a lever attached to theshaft portions 285A′, 285B′ and to a lever of the disc brake assembly.The single elongate actuator would operate in the same manner describedabove for the elongate actuators 270A′, 270B′ to lock the front wheelassemblies 230A′, 230B′ substantially simultaneously with the locking ofthe rear wheel assemblies 220A′, 220B′.

Advantageously, the braking assembly 200, 200′ allow all wheels 220A′,220B′, 230A′, 230B′ to be locked and unlocked substantiallysimultaneously via actuation of the pedal assembly 260′ (e.g., a singlepedal assembly) by the operator. The braking of the wheels 220A′, 220B′,230A′, 230B′ advantageously inhibit (e.g., prevent) motion of the mobilecart, such as the patient cart 104, in which it is incorporated, along asurface having an incline of up to about 10 degrees.

Additional Embodiments

In embodiments of the present invention, a brake assembly for a roboticsurgery cart may be in accordance with any of the following clauses:

Clause 1. A brake assembly for a robotic surgery cart, comprising:

-   -   a pair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism        actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of each of the rear        wheel assemblies;    -   a pair of front wheel assemblies, each having a disc brake        assembly actuatable to selectively brake a rotor operatively        coupled to a wheel of each of the front wheel assemblies;    -   a gearbox interposed between the pair of rear wheel assemblies;    -   a pair of rotatable shafts extending along a first axis and        interconnecting the gearbox with the pair of rear wheel        assemblies;    -   a pair of elongate actuators interconnecting the pair of        rotatable shafts and the disc brake assemblies of the front        wheel assemblies; and    -   a pedal lever rotatably coupled to the gearbox and configured to        rotate about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to        the first axis, the pedal lever having a pair of pedals disposed        on opposite sides of the second axis, allowing the pedal lever        to rotate clockwise by pressing on one of the pair of pedals and        to rotate counterclockwise by pressing on the other of the pair        of pedals,    -   wherein rotation of the pedal lever about the second axis causes        the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the        first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel        assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a        translation of the pair of elongate actuators to actuate the        disc brake assemblies to substantially lock the rotors of the        front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and        rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

Clause 2. The brake assembly of clause 1, wherein the pair of rear wheelassemblies are casters.

Clause 3. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, wherein the pairof elongate actuators are gas springs.

Clause 4. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, wherein for eachof the front wheel assemblies, the rotor is coupled to the wheel by anaxle that is rotatably fixed relative to the wheel and the rotor.

Clause 5. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, wherein each ofthe pair of elongate actuators couples to one of the pair of rotatableshafts via a linkage movably coupled to a lever that is rotatably fixedto the rotatable shaft.

Clause 6. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, wherein each ofthe pair of elongate actuators couples to one of the disc brakeassemblies via a linkage coupled to a movable lever of the disc brakeassembly, wherein the lever is movable by the elongate actuator betweena first position where the disc brake assembly does not inhibit rotationof the rotor and a second position where the disc brake assembly appliesa braking force on the rotor.

Clause 7. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, further comprisinga pair of rotary detents disposed on opposite sides of the gearbox, therotary detents configured to engage a spring assembly to exert a forceon the rotatable shafts to inhibit their rotation unless the pedal leveris actuated.

Clause 8. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, wherein the pedallever is configured to rotate over a range of approximately 60 degrees.

Clause 9. The brake assembly of any preceding clause, further comprisinga baseplate configured to support the pair of rear wheel assemblies, thepair of front wheel assemblies, and the gearbox.

Clause 10. A brake assembly for a robotic surgery cart, comprising:

-   -   a pair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism        actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of the rear wheel        assembly;    -   at least one front wheel assembly;    -   a rotor operatively coupled to a wheel of the at least one front        wheel assembly;    -   a disc brake assembly actuatable to selectively brake the rotor;    -   a gearbox interposed between the pair of rear wheels;    -   a pair of rotatable shafts extending along a first axis and        interconnecting the gearbox with the pair of rear wheels;    -   at least one elongate actuator interconnecting at least one of        the pair of rotatable shafts and the disc brake assembly; and    -   a pedal lever rotatably coupled to the gearbox and configured to        rotate about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to        the first axis, the pedal lever configured to rotate in a first        direction by pressing on one portion of the pedal lever and to        rotate in a second direction by pressing on another portion of        the pedal lever,    -   wherein rotation of the pedal lever about the second axis causes        the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the        first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel        assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a        translation of the at least one elongate actuator to actuate the        disc brake assembly to substantially lock the rotor, such that        the rear wheel assemblies and the at least one front wheel        assembly brake substantially simultaneously.

Clause 11. The brake assembly of clause 10, wherein the pair of rearwheel assemblies are casters.

Clause 12. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-11, wherein the atleast one elongate actuator is a pair of elongate actuators that extendbetween and interconnect the pair of rotatable shafts and a pair of discbrake assemblies.

Clause 13. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-12, wherein the atleast one elongate actuator is a gas spring.

Clause 14. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-13, wherein the rotoris coupled to the wheel by an axle that is rotatably fixed relative tothe wheel and the rotor.

Clause 15. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-14, wherein the atleast one elongate actuator couples to one of the pair of rotatableshafts via a linkage movably coupled to a lever that is rotatably fixedto the rotatable shaft.

Clause 16. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-15, wherein the atleast one elongate actuator couples to the disc brake assembly via alinkage coupled to a movable lever of the disc brake assembly, whereinthe lever is movable by the elongate actuator between a first positionwhere the disc brake assembly does not inhibit rotation of the rotor anda second position where the disc brake assembly applies a braking forceon the rotor.

Clause 17. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-16, furthercomprising a pair of rotary detents disposed on opposite sides of thegearbox, the rotary detents configured to engage a spring assembly toexert a force on the rotatable shafts to inhibit their rotation unlessthe pedal lever is actuated.

Clause 18. The brake assembly of any of clauses 10-17, wherein the pedallever is configured to rotate over a range of approximately 60 degrees.

Other Variations

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in some embodiments,additional components and/or steps can be utilized, and disclosedcomponents and/or steps can be combined or omitted. For example,although some embodiments are described in connection with a roboticsurgery system, the disclosure is not so limited. Systems, devices, andmethods described herein can be applicable to medical procedures ingeneral, among other uses. As another example, certain components can beillustrated and/or described as being circular or cylindrical. In someimplementations, the components can be additionally or alternativelyinclude non-circular portions, such as portions having straight lines.As yet another example, any of the actuators described herein caninclude one or more motors, such as electrical motors. As yet anotherexample, in addition to or instead of controlling tilt and/or pan of acamera, roll (or spin) can be controlled. For example, one or moreactuators can be provided for controlling the spin.

The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the systems,devices, and methods disclosed herein. It will be appreciated, however,that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the systems,devices, and methods can be practiced in many ways. The use ofparticular terminology when describing certain features or aspects ofthe disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to including any specificcharacteristics of the features or aspects of the technology with whichthat terminology is associated.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and changes can be made without departing from the scopeof the described technology. Such modifications and changes are intendedto fall within the scope of the embodiments. It will also be appreciatedby those of skill in the art that parts included in one embodiment areinterchangeable with other embodiments; one or more parts from adepicted embodiment can be included with other depicted embodiments inany combination. For example, any of the various components describedherein and/or depicted in the figures can be combined, interchanged, orexcluded from other embodiments.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations can be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

Directional terms used herein (for example, top, bottom, side, up, down,inward, outward, etc.) are generally used with reference to theorientation or perspective shown in the figures and are not intended tobe limiting. For example, positioning “above” described herein can referto positioning below or on one of sides. Thus, features described asbeing “above” may be included below, on one of sides, or the like.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein are generally intended as “open” terms (for example, theterm “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limitedto,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” theterm “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limitedto,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art thatif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, suchan intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims can contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (for example, “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted tomean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the useof definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition,even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isexplicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that suchrecitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recitednumber (for example, the bare recitation of “two recitations,” withoutother modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two ormore recitations).

The term “comprising” as used herein is synonymous with “including,”“containing,” or “characterized by,” and is inclusive or open-ended anddoes not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unlessspecifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within thecontext as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,”“about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent avalue, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, orcharacteristic that still performs a desired function and/or achieves adesired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”,“generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is withinless than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, withinless than 0.1% of, and/or within less than 0.01% of the stated amount.

It will be further understood by those within the art that anydisjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms,whether in the description, claims, or drawings, can be understood tocontemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either ofthe terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will beunderstood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”Further, the term “each,” as used herein, in addition to having itsordinary meaning, can mean any subset of a set of elements to which theterm “each” is applied.

Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with thecontext as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may beeither X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generallyintended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of atleast one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionalitymay be implemented in varying ways for each particular application, butsuch implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

The various illustrative blocks, modules, and circuits described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm and functions described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. If implemented in software, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on atangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium. A software module mayreside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory(ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CDROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storagemedium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. Diskand disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer readable media. The processor andthe storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

The above description discloses embodiments of systems, apparatuses,devices, methods, and materials of the present disclosure. Thisdisclosure is susceptible to modifications in the components, parts,elements, steps, and materials, as well as alterations in thefabrication methods and equipment. Such modifications will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of thisdisclosure or practice of the disclosure. Consequently, it is notintended that the disclosure be limited to the specific embodimentsdisclosed herein, but that it cover all modifications and alternativescoming within the scope and spirit of the subject matter embodied in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A brake assembly for a robotic surgery cart,comprising: a pair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brakemechanism actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of each of the rearwheel assemblies; a pair of front wheel assemblies, each having a discbrake assembly actuatable to selectively brake a rotor operativelycoupled to a wheel of each of the front wheel assemblies; a gearboxinterposed between the pair of rear wheel assemblies; a pair ofrotatable shafts extending along a first axis and interconnecting thegearbox with the pair of rear wheel assemblies; a pair of elongateactuators interconnecting the pair of rotatable shafts and the discbrake assemblies of the front wheel assemblies; and a pedal leverrotatably coupled to the gearbox and configured to rotate about a secondaxis that is generally perpendicular to the first axis, the pedal leverhaving a pair of pedals disposed on opposite sides of the second axis,allowing the pedal lever to rotate clockwise by pressing on one of thepair of pedals and to rotate counterclockwise by pressing on the otherof the pair of pedals, wherein rotation of the pedal lever about thesecond axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shaftsabout the first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheelassemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of thepair of elongate actuators to actuate the disc brake assemblies tosubstantially lock the rotors of the front wheel assemblies, such thatthe wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantiallysimultaneously.
 2. The brake assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair ofrear wheel assemblies are casters.
 3. The brake assembly of claim 1,wherein the pair of elongate actuators are gas springs.
 4. The brakeassembly of claim 1, wherein for each of the front wheel assemblies, therotor is coupled to the wheel by an axle that is rotatably fixedrelative to the wheel and the rotor.
 5. The brake assembly of claim 1,wherein each of the pair of elongate actuators couples to one of thepair of rotatable shafts via a linkage movably coupled to a lever thatis rotatably fixed to the rotatable shaft.
 6. The brake assembly ofclaim 1, wherein each of the pair of elongate actuators couples to oneof the disc brake assemblies via a linkage coupled to a movable lever ofthe disc brake assembly, wherein the lever is movable by the elongateactuator between a first position where the disc brake assembly does notinhibit rotation of the rotor and a second position where the disc brakeassembly applies a braking force on the rotor.
 7. The brake assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising a pair of rotary detents disposed onopposite sides of the gearbox, the rotary detents configured to engage aspring assembly to exert a force on the rotatable shafts to inhibittheir rotation unless the pedal lever is actuated.
 8. The brake assemblyof claim 1, wherein the pedal lever is configured to rotate over a rangeof approximately 60 degrees.
 9. The brake assembly of claim 1, furthercomprising a baseplate configured to support the pair of rear wheelassemblies, the pair of front wheel assemblies, and the gearbox.
 10. Abrake assembly for a robotic surgery cart, comprising: a pair of rearwheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism actuatable toselectively brake a wheel of each of the rear wheel assemblies; at leastone front wheel assembly; a rotor operatively coupled to a wheel of theat least one front wheel assembly; a disc brake assembly actuatable toselectively brake the rotor; a gearbox interposed between the pair ofrear wheels; a pair of rotatable shafts extending along a first axis andinterconnecting the gearbox with the pair of rear wheels; at least oneelongate actuator interconnecting at least one of the pair of rotatableshafts and the disc brake assembly; and a pedal lever rotatably coupledto the gearbox and configured to rotate about a second axis that isgenerally perpendicular to the first axis, the pedal lever configured torotate in a first direction by pressing on one portion of the pedallever and to rotate in a second direction by pressing on another portionof the pedal lever, wherein rotation of the pedal lever about the secondaxis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about thefirst axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, andsubstantially simultaneously causes a translation of the at least oneelongate actuator to actuate the disc brake assembly to substantiallylock the rotor, such that the rear wheel assemblies and the at least onefront wheel assembly brake substantially simultaneously.
 11. The brakeassembly of claim 10, wherein the pair of rear wheel assemblies arecasters.
 12. The brake assembly of claim 10, wherein the at least oneelongate actuator is a pair of elongate actuators that extend betweenand interconnect the pair of rotatable shafts and a pair of disc brakeassemblies.
 13. The brake assembly of claim 10, wherein the at least oneelongate actuator is a gas spring.
 14. The brake assembly of claim 10,wherein the rotor is coupled to the wheel by an axle that is rotatablyfixed relative to the wheel and the rotor.
 15. The brake assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the at least one elongate actuator couples to one ofthe pair of rotatable shafts via a linkage movably coupled to a leverthat is rotatably fixed to the rotatable shaft.
 16. The brake assemblyof claim 10, wherein the at least one elongate actuator couples to thedisc brake assembly via a linkage coupled to a movable lever of the discbrake assembly, wherein the lever is movable by the elongate actuatorbetween a first position where the disc brake assembly does not inhibitrotation of the rotor and a second position where the disc brakeassembly applies a braking force on the rotor.
 17. The brake assembly ofclaim 10, further comprising a pair of rotary detents disposed onopposite sides of the gearbox, the rotary detents configured to engage aspring assembly to exert a force on the rotatable shafts to inhibittheir rotation unless the pedal lever is actuated.
 18. The brakeassembly of claim 10, wherein the pedal lever is configured to rotateover a range of approximately 60 degrees.